"And you live here with him?" continued Jack.
"Yep. Have always."
"Any one else here besides you and him?"
"Not now. His wife used to, but she died last winter."
"I suppose you keep house for him?"
"Yep."
A faint smile accompanied the monosyllable this time.
"It's rather hard work for a girl like you," Jack remarked.
Meg tossed back her head.
"Hard! 'Tain't nothing; cookin' and cleanin' ain't. It's garden work that's tough. Look at them hands." She dropped the pail and held them up. "Been blistered lots of times hoein' and diggin'."